Old Montreal night lights

It was not really night time, although the sun was down. It gets dark here earlier and earlier with each day that passes. I set up on st Laurent down in China town looking east and made a painting of the night lights overhead and on the multitude of signs and windows. It was a challenging painting to get right, the key element was the blue fade of the twilight-sky behind the tree and red flags being illuminated from overhead lamps. It came out remarkably well although the pedestrians are faded, almost apparition like, but it almost gives a sense of movement.  

China town lights, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2025

It was getting pretty dark by now and clouds were rolling in. The sky was done with just two paints, indo blue (PB60) and pyrol orange (PO73). The clouds are a roughly equal mix and diluted with water, the dark sky is mostly PB60 with a good daub of PO73. It was also a difficult painting to work up, starting with a paint outline, then filling in element by element, followed by detailing. People kept talking to me, including in French so I had that to contend with that too. Luckily I can hold a basic conversation in French. 

Bonsecours market lights, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2025

Some scenes appear to be impossible to paint and this was one of them. I reasoned that the large cruise boat would fit on the paper by holding up the paper to the scene. After outlining in paint, I worked the sky around all the light elements, then began blocking in the other areas, leaving plenty of space for highlights. I did the water in two steps, one was fast vertical brush strokes with texture to get the light beam reflections, and two were the many waves, also done with maximum texture to create a glitter effect. I am back to using brand new Arches paper (no more backs of cut up paintings!), which is a relief. I can get better effects on new paper, and the washes hold well. A yellow signature completes the painting. 

Cruise boat lights, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, September 2025